Teams, Fortresses, Twos, etc.

We usually don’t use this blog for much other than self-promotion and letting you know that I’m fucking up the website with my less than passable .css skills. But I thought, hey, why not use it for something else also?

Let’s kick this off with some good old fashioned ass-covering by saying that I am not a video games expert. I have not studied video games and the business involved in any extensive capacity other than my own extracurricular efforts. I also don’t know anybody at Valve (but if anyone at Valve is a fan of Guilded Age, I have but one request: Please make Syr’Nj’s goggles a Medic Hat). This is all speculation and opinion based on my experiences playing games for a long damn time.

As far as I could ever tell, TF2 has been a labor of love by in the eyes and hands of its creators. They’ve always been extremely kind to their playerbase, even the ones that bitch endlessly about a class being “OP as fuck.” I hadn’t heard so much clamour over class differences since I was playing World Of Warcraft. Having been a Warlock for a number of years, I was rather used to that topic (and a close friend of mine spent a likewise amount of time as a Warrior, and was thoroughly uninterested in hearing OTHER classes whining about not getting buffs).

Either way, the obvious talking point about this new venture for the game is $DLC. It has become evident that $DLC is the wave of the future in gaming, and if not the wave, it is certainly a wave. It’s easily a low-cost high profit sort of thing, which is definitely what any business looks for. But up until now, TF2 wasn’t strictly a business other than being a video game that people could buy. Providing fresh, new content and throwing random events for free in a game is a fantastic way to drive sales and keep people playing, but therein lies the problem: Once the game is purchased, it’s purchased. And after a certain point, the rate of copies being sold has to diminish does it not? Not simply in the face of strong competitors (such as a little game called HALO: Reach), but also over the fact that most of the people that ever will play TF2 are currently playing TF2.

And this game is three years old now. Valve has done a fantastic (perhaps even unprecedented) job at keeping the game alive, new, and interesting over this time. But there comes a point where you can only continue to pump energy and resources into a game that your target demograph is pretty much already playing (obviously there is an untapped section of the audience that is new to computer gaming et al, but I feel that is more or less a given).

Eventually, you must start charging more money to keep a Thing alive if there is not a regular subscription model in place. That’s just a fact.

Personally, I am thankful that there is no subscription model for TF2. It would be horribly out of place for an FPS game, and it would cut the playerbase down by considerable portions. The fact that everything in the Mann Co. store is optional purchase is what makes it great. But what can be said about the fact that you can power up simply by handing over some credit card info? Is that something justified? Do we want to see that in the games of our future?

It’s a moot question. We have that now. It’s here. It’s proven to print money. It’s staying. But I have to say, I appreciate that it exists, and fully support it.

Let’s look at TF2’s case, specifically. They’re probably executing the best model I can think of: Prices of individual items scale based on rarity: Any weapon that existed prior to this update is just $0.99. I was more than happy to pay $2 to get those last two weapons that I destroyed at one point seeking a Golden Wrench (but as of this writing, I am now just realizing that I forgot to replace my lost Kritzkreig). There are a few bonus weapons here and there that offer complete changes in class for about $5/pop, but as far as I know, they can also drop randomly. The promotion that’s going on now allows you to purchase all five of the Polycount Packs for a sum total of $50. A hefty pricetag, I’ll agree. But personally, I love TF2 so much that I’m willing to drop that on it. It’s like an expansion pack in that way, and considering just how much more game you get from the purchase, it’s worth it.

Think about it: It comes down to $10/class, and that’s good for all perpetuity. You’ll never have to pay it again, and you never had to pay it to begin with. You could perfectly enjoy playing TF2 with the free-only content. Hell, you could play it with all the defaults: it is entirely up to you. If I understand correctly, everything that’s in the store can also be found on a random drop, so statistically speaking: You’ll get everything if you just keep playing anyway.

There will be complaints over some sort of “imbalance” between the classes, particularly now that Sniper can make himself immune to headshots. I mean, that’s fairly ridiculous, but in order to accomplish this, he sacrifices his own ability to score headshots. Seems fair to me. A lot of the complaining will probably stem from the initial confusion on how to deal with what are essentially new classes. All I know is that I was playing Pipline Payload last night and got The Battalion’s Backup as a random drop. After equipping it immediately, a medic and I held down that fucking tunnel long enough for me to get the defense buff up three times in one life (got The Boostie Boys cheevo in the process). Broken? Perhaps. If so, I’m not complaining: I feel the Buff Banner is equally devastating. And if it is deemed broken by the community, it’ll get fixed within a week. Like all the other crap. Video gamers are sometimes guilty of being less than patient for things like this, as if there were some kind of magic switch built into all games where all you have to do to fix an imbalance is change a single value in an excel sheet. This expectation is less than appropriate.

I’ve been rambling here for a minute, so I’ll wrap up: Anyone who’s truly a fan of TF2 should be happy that they have established what is probably going to be a strong revenue stream. The fact that fan-created content can not only be submitted and added to the game is great, but the part where the creators get a portion of the profits for making these items suggests a whole new direction for the Game Developer-Game Player relationship: A symbiotic one where they feed each other ideas in an environment where creative works take place, and rewards follow for all involved. I would like to see an MMO like this, it might even make me swear off my “No More MMOs” vow (or if they finally make a Pokemon MMO).

We’re already living in a wacky age of remakes, re-imaginings and reinventions for franchises across all media. Creativity, itself, has never been in such a constant flux that blurs the line between creator and consumer, to the point where everyone’s collaborating together on making the thing we all like into the best thing it can be. Like any other process in the universe, there will be failures and successes in different degrees all over the Goddamned place. It will never be a concrete science, it will never be the same thing for everyone, and there will come a time where nothing will ever be the same thing one moment as it will be the next. Like some kind of fucking Quantum Creativity mode that compliments the traditional McLuhan-style unilateral method. The definition of Game, itself, might end up changing as this medium continues evolving into some brand new thing that we cannot comprehend now, but will see as obvious when it arrives.

Discussion (19) ¬

My main problem with the Polycount Pack is that I don’t feel that $10/class is a good price point, especially since there will be other Polycount Packs released. I managed to browse through my inventory and craft a Degreaser, and have been thoroughly enjoying my new Pyro even though I almost immediately received another Degreaser by random drop.

Anyway, the DLC has bascially priced itself out of the market for me, but given the number of hours I’ve plugged into TF2 I’m probably not the market they were after, so I suppose I shouldn’t care? I’m excited for the new updates, but I feel no desire to drop more than twice what I paid for the game on them.

As a side note, given how awesome I see the Degreaser to be, I’m wondering how Valve is going to handle nerfing any of these things, or if they’re going to at all. If people have paid money for these releases, and it emerges they are ridiculously broken, then if they change the effect then there could be some serious backlash from the community.

If there is a serious backlash, I don’t think it would be what I would consider warranted. Given how many games (TF2 especially) nerf/buff/errata details to the game, it should be an expectation of the game-consuming audience for games like these.

The player community will always find ways to break and abuse game mechanics that the official testers don’t catch. It’s just the nature of the media.

I had neglected to remember that tidbit! You can, of course, count on Steam to put them on sale again and again in the future.

Also, the price would be $130 for all five class packages. Still a hefty pricetag, I have to admit. A bit too hefty.

Still, all of this $DLC is optional. It comes down to whether or not it’s worth it for the user. Also, any of the stuff can be obtained randomly through drops, so if you’re lucky you’ll get it all for free.

For argument’s sake, the high price point is a good thing in one sense, because the specialness of the items is retained. Some things SHOULD be hard to get, and if you want to “cheat” and get them instantly, you probably should be charged.

I am the wrong guy for reasoning out what an acceptable pricetag would be, though.

I think that’s a pretty negative way of looking at it. They don’t trawl, all submissions to the development of the game are exactly that: Submissions. Willful submissions. And you are neglecting the fact that all fan-contributors get paid for their implemented submissions.

But if you don’t like it, you don’t have to join in. The fact that people who want to vilify this new venture like to conveniently overlook is that none of it is mandatory.

I have to say, I’m 100% behind Valve on this one. I hate how everyone thinks this cheapens the gameplay experience, though.

A soldier with the Black Box and a soldier with a regular Rocket Launcher are essentially the same character, with minute differences in health and ammo counts.

They are both large men with Rockets pointed at you.
And on the topic of MMOs, I don’t know if you’ve looked into it, but Lord of the Rings Online is actually working on pretty much the same system. You can enjoy the game without ever paying a dime.

Buying powerups with real money always cheapens the gaming experience. I can totally sympathize with that sentiment. But, y’know, things change over time. Eventually this will become the norm, and people will start saying that buying $DLC on sale as opposed to buying it full price cheapens the experience.
I think the Solider Pack is definitely my favorite of the five from an objective standpoint. It really sells the idea that there can be Soldiers that are pure offense and pure defense.

guys, i think valve has enough money to let content for a such an old game go for free, to be honest. fix it up so it works and is balanced once and for all- maybe make a few more maps- then let it go into communitiy developement. this is the circle of life/software developement.

but on the subject of $DLC, i give another example: LoL (league of legends- a dota clone) seems to have taken this to the next level…the game itself is completely free to download. (constantly being updated an added to also. they have a reputation for taking community input- though the growing size of the community may have put an end to that…) this is not a low-budget operation. they’ve put a lot of time and love into developement and even presentation material like cinematics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzMnCv_lPxI&feature=player_embedded

they make their money from people buying permanent use of otherwise cycling characters, character skins and ‘runes’, items that give tiny percentage advantages in battle.

the really cool thing is that everything (except character skins) is unlockable through spending XP anyway. so they’re not taking anything away from players who aren’t giving them money, just making the XP curve a little faster for people who support them…which i think is awesome, because i’m not loaded.

Seconded, I love LoL’s system. I played with the free characters for a month or two until I picked out a favorite and used the experience I earned for free to make her a permanent choice. I enjoyed playing her so much that I went ahead and paid the 4-5ish bucks for a new custom skin and never looked back.

As for TF2’s system, I’m delighted that they aren’t giving any advantages to paying people. You can get everything for free eventually, if you’re diligent. I’m a little iffy on the weapons themselves, but hey, its something new to keep things interesting!

There’s nothing that Valve is doing here that is particularly new or different, other than perhaps actually giving a portion of the proceeds to the people who submit fan-made content. That’s pretty awesome. The rest of it? It ALL boils down to “giving people who have the ability to drop extra money and support the game a slight and mostly COSMETIC advantage.” And that’s fine! I have no idea why people have problems with this.

Say, for example, you can’t wait to try out the new items released in a future patch? Either play as you normally do and get the items slowly, either finding or crafting them, OR drop $10-20 and get them all right off the bat. And that makes a lot of sense to me. The breaking point is when you start offering content via DLC that offers something you CAN’T get through just playing the game. Not that it’s inherently bad, it just turns the game into something it wasn’t previously.

I did not know about TF2 before this post (even though the orange box floated through my house a few months back). I watched all the trailers and havent lol’d that much in ages! Definately oging to get my own copy and see if the play is as much fun.

Going to have to go a bit against the flow and disagree here. There may be ranting ahead…

When I bought the game, I bought it for what it was, and for what it promised. I’ve never been a big fan of “unlockables” that give an in-game advantage, but it was on sale and back then the differences between the base configuration and the options wasn’t so huge.

Then things started getting weirder and weirder. It wasn’t bad at first; Sniper/Spy wasn’t that big a deal although my slightly laggy connection prevents either class from being very playable to me. Then came the Engi update, which basically introduced at least one completely new character *that I couldn’t play even though I’d bought the game!*

Then the latest patch, and “oh hey, you *can* play all those cool new things that are radical changes to playstyle even if they aren’t that thematically different… just pony up the cash (again).” Sorry, not even remotely interested. I don’t play the game enough to get the drops in a reasonable timeframe, and I don’t like Valve enough to be willing to pay again for a game I already own just to keep up with people who play way more than me (or were willing to pay again anyhow).

If they’d stuck to hats, polypacks, and other cosmetic changes being available for purchase I’d have been fine. If they’d avoided the drastic changes but opened upt he minor things for purchase I’d probably have grumbled a bit but otherwise been fine. If they’d made the new and different gear available to everybody (who’d bought the game) I’d have jumped in the moment I could. If they’d released an expansion of new content that you had to pay for to use but which could only be used with others who have it, I’d have been fine with that too.

They didn’t do any of those things. They took a game that used to be my fun little 30 minutes 2x a week timekiller and made it into something completely different – a money machine where the obsessive get more content and the high-spenders get better gear (every item has tradeoffs, but some of them really are just better in most cases). That’s not what I paid for, and it’s dampened my interest in buying anything from them again.

man, i can take it one step further. the other day i was browsing the local games store (a physical store- not online), and saw a copy of portal sitting on the shelf. now, i’ve been wanting to catch up with the rest of the gaming world on this game for some time, so i instantly snatch it up. on my way to the counter, i idly read the blurb…

*can only be played over steam*

what?!? so i’m paying money- real money- for a game, and not just some unlock code, an actual disc with all the ones and zeroes on it. I HAVE THE COMPLETE GAME IN MY HAND- but i can only play it if i want to log into steam-assuming i have an internet connection- and play that way.

To be fair, Steam is a pretty good anti-piracy system. It’s not unbreakable (no DRM is, really) but so far as DRM goes it’s one of the better forms for many game types. It has its annoying limitations (you have to connect it to the ‘net every month or so, and you can’t trade or re-sell games) but in exchange you can install on as many computers as you want and you don’t ahve to carry around the CDs.

That said, the requirement of Steam does seem particularly unreasonable considering that Portal is a single-player game. I urge you to play it anyhow – it’s great fun, and can be finished fairly quickly if you have limited time – but use a friend’s Steam account or something.

Guilded Age does not claim ownership of any of the corporate branding that appears in this comic, nor does it claim any affiliation, partnership, or endorsement of any kind. They are used strictly as an artistic choice for the set dressing of the comic.